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Jim Fitzgerald
16-Apr-2008, 21:29
Well, I thought I would post some pictures of her for all to see. I am very proud of this one. Fashioned after my Zone VI 4x5, all I can say is that she is huge! It took me 10 months and 14 days with hand tools, Dremel, a small 4" table saw from Harbor freight, drill, chisels, and a lot of hand finishing and polishing. I must say that the Walnut polishes out very nice. I used a Deardorff back and the bellows I got off of e-bay, but everything else is hand built by me in my apartment. Can't wait to try her out.

Jim

Jorge Gasteazoro
16-Apr-2008, 21:33
Congratulations, you did a fine job!

Jim Fitzgerald
16-Apr-2008, 21:42
Jorge, thanks. I can't wait to take her out and use her. I'm just staring at her for a while. Now I can clean up the apartment and put the tools away.... at least for a while. I had a crazy thought if making my own 8x10 out of Walnut so I can have three that would match. I need to think about that one for a while. I've been building cameras off and on for a little over two years now. Time to burn some ULF film!!

Jim

Jon Wilson
16-Apr-2008, 21:42
Really nice! It definitely looks a lot sturdier than my 11x14 New Improved Empire State View Camera (cira 1910's). What size of lensboard does it take? Let me know if you would like to modify a NIB 11x14 B&J battleship gray 8x10 reducing back. I was going to use it on my 11x14, but have taken another approach. Thanks for sharing. Jon

Jim Fitzgerald
16-Apr-2008, 21:47
Really nice! It definitely looks a lot sturdier than my 11x14 New Improved Empire State View Camera (cira 1910's). What size of lensboard does it take? Let me know if you would like to modify a NIB 11x14 B&J battleship gray 8x10 reducing back. I was going to use it on my 11x14, but have taken another approach. Thanks for sharing. Jon

Jon, thanks. It takes 6x6 lens boards. I can use them with my 8x10 and 8x20 cameras. I have to think about any more work on cameras right now. I still have to weight this thing and I do like my 8x10 so a reducing back may not be needed. But you never know. Thanks for the offer.

Jim

sanking
16-Apr-2008, 21:56
Jorge, thanks. I can't wait to take her out and use her. I'm just staring at her for a while. Now I can clean up the apartment and put the tools away.... at least for a while. I had a crazy thought if making my own 8x10 out of Walnut so I can have three that would match. I need to think about that one for a while. I've been building cameras off and on for a little over two years now. Time to burn some ULF film!!

Jim


Time to start thinking about your 20X24!

Sandy King

Mark Woods
16-Apr-2008, 22:00
Jim, you clearly didn't learn from the first one you built -- that I saw on the Disney outing. Dude, you have to get out there and shoot, or build them for others -- but I doubt that that could work financially. That said, it isn't now. ;-) Keep up the good work and the development by inspection. I'd love to see some of your work.

Kind Regards,

Jim Fitzgerald
16-Apr-2008, 22:26
Sandy, you must remember. I live in an apartment!! There isn't enough room for me let alone a 20x24!! It is a little less than twice as big though. Hum....... No I think I'll at some point I'll build an 8x10 to replace my Seneca Improved. Then I would have three Walnut cameras. They sure do look nice. Plus I need to get serious about the carbon process. If I keep building cameras I won't shoot as much as I would like.

Mark, thanks man. Oh, I'm going to be all over contact printing. I can't wait to shoot this baby. I need to clean up the shop ( Apartment) so I can shoot and do some printing. I have some negs ( 8x20) from Yosemite that I haven't printed yet along with some test 8x10 negs that I shot with my 11x14 lenses. The negs all look great. I'll post some stuff soon.

Jim

jb7
17-Apr-2008, 01:31
Well done, looks great-
look forward to seeing some pictures from it-

j

Jim Fitzgerald
17-Apr-2008, 07:28
Well done, looks great-
look forward to seeing some pictures from it-

j

Joseph, thank you. I can't wait to see my first 11x14 contact print. I have a 250 sheet box of Azo in the fridge waiting to be used.

Jim

Erik Larsen
17-Apr-2008, 07:43
Great effort Jim! Such satisfaction from doing it yourself, I know. That is one beauty of a camera for sure!
Have fun with it
Erik

Jim Galli
17-Apr-2008, 07:58
Gorgeous Jim. Congrats! Hope we can get together sometime. You'll need a gas guzzling SUV big enough to put all the cameras inside.

wfwhitaker
17-Apr-2008, 08:03
Woodworking in an apartment, huh? So, you must be single... But still, how do you deal with the sawdust?

Hugo Zhang
17-Apr-2008, 08:14
Jim,

Take it to our next shootout and show this beauty!

Hugo

Jim Fitzgerald
17-Apr-2008, 10:55
Jim, I have it all figured out. The 11x14 in the front seat and the 8x10 and 8x20 in the back of my Silverado 4 door. When we do a shoot up you're way I'll bring the family along with me!
Will, I love the smell of sawdust in the morning! Smells like camera beasts!! Single.. Oh yes. Now the clean up and dusting, that is going to take a while.
Hugo, you bet I'll bring this one! It looks bigger than the 8x20 and no there is no 20x24 in the future! Of course if Tri brings his Walnut 20x24 I may just change my mind. I will need to move and get rich first.

Jim

Jim Fitzgerald
17-Apr-2008, 18:58
I forgot to show her with the Voigtlander Euroscop Hybrid 16" lens that covers wide open at infinity. Should make a nice portrait lens.

Jim

Jorge Gasteazoro
17-Apr-2008, 20:17
WHat kind of finish did you use? It looks like hand rubbed wax....my hats to you if you did this, it probaly took you a year out of the two just waxing and waxing and waxing...LOL

Jim Fitzgerald
17-Apr-2008, 20:31
Jorge, I dry sand everything to 220. Then I used Watco Danish oil and let it sit for a day. Then I wet sand with diamond hand pads from 200, 400, 600, 800 with the Walnut oil to get a hand rubbed finish. I then put on a coat of Watco Walnut Satin Wax and hand rub in three coats of paste wax. It is well worth the effort. Yes it will scratch and show some wear marks but that is the beauty of it.


Jim

Tri Tran
17-Apr-2008, 20:44
I forgot to show her with the Voigtlander Euroscop Hybrid 16" lens that covers wide open at infinity. Should make a nice portrait lens.

Jim

Jim,
That's beautifully made, congrat! You're so talented . I didn't see the front raised feature like my 11x14 ? Thanks for sharing with us and looking forward to meet her soon.Best. TT

Jorge Gasteazoro
17-Apr-2008, 20:47
Jorge, I dry sand everything to 220. Then I used Watco Danish oil and let it sit for a day. Then I wet sand with diamond hand pads from 200, 400, 600, 800 with the Walnut oil to get a hand rubbed finish. I then put on a coat of Watco Walnut Satin Wax and hand rub in three coats of paste wax. It is well worth the effort. Yes it will scratch and show some wear marks but that is the beauty of it.


Jim

That is what I thought, you sure got the look perfect. Had it been me it would have been Minwax in the air gun....lol.

Jim Galli
17-Apr-2008, 20:50
I forgot to show her with the Voigtlander Euroscop Hybrid 16" lens that covers wide open at infinity. Should make a nice portrait lens.

Jim
I'm anxious too see what that lens is going to look like. Put a piece of paper in a holder and make a picture. :cool:

Jim Fitzgerald
17-Apr-2008, 21:23
Tri, I couldn't remember the details of that great 11x14 you have so I had to use the Zone VI for my model.
Jorge, I am a glutton for punishment!
Jim, thanks again for the suggestion of getting a +1 diopter for this lens. I put it on the 8x10 and shot it at 16,32, and 64. All of the negs came out great. The F-64 is amazingly sharp. I will print them as soon as I can and post the results. The F-16 was a close up of a stump and image holds up well. I didn't shoot it wide open yet. I think it is a 7.7. I need to do that. Can't scan 8x10 negs or I would. Now that the camera is officially done I can get to work making images with it and printing. Maybe I'll shoot a paper neg tomorrow and post the results. Need to read up on that one.

Jim

Jim Galli
17-Apr-2008, 21:26
Wide open is what I'm most curious about. Just rate your RC cheapo paper about asa 1 with a #1/2 printing filter dropped in the waterhous slot and soup in some Dektol. :D


Tri, I couldn't remember the details of that great 11x14 you have so I had to use the Zone VI for my model.
Jorge, I am a glutton for punishment!
Jim, thanks again for the suggestion of getting a +1 diopter for this lens. I put it on the 8x10 and shot it at 16,32, and 64. All of the negs came out great. The F-64 is amazingly sharp. I will print them as soon as I can and post the results. The F-16 was a close up of a stump and image holds up well. I didn't shoot it wide open yet. I think it is a 7.7. I need to do that. Can't scan 8x10 negs or I would. Now that the camera is officially done I can get to work making images with it and printing. Maybe I'll shoot a paper neg tomorrow and post the results. Need to read up on that one.

Jim

Jim Fitzgerald
17-Apr-2008, 21:43
Jim I'll give it a try tomorrow night. The one stop that I have is marked #30. It seems to be about F-16. This is a Euroscop #4 and it is about 16" focal length on the 11x14. I'm guessing it to be about F 7.7 wide open. No cheapo RC only fiber and no filters other than my lee filters. I have a Packard to attach to the front of the lens with a nifty filter slot built in. Should I use a yellow? Thanks.

Jim

Jim Galli
17-Apr-2008, 21:47
A yellow only affects variable contrast paper. If it's VC then a yellow filter lowers the contrast which is needed with paper negs. I've got a Euryscop 5 that I may have to try this on. ;)

Jim Fitzgerald
17-Apr-2008, 21:57
Jim, I'm in business because I have some VC 11x14. The Arista which is the old Forte paper so I'm good to go. Can't wait! Thanks.

Jim

wfwhitaker
18-Apr-2008, 09:58
A yellow only affects variable contrast paper. If it's VC then a yellow filter lowers the contrast which is needed with paper negs...

It seems counterintuitive that a yellow filter would decrease contrast. After all, it's what I use to increase contrast with film. But I guess paper's spectral response is different enough from pan film to make it work the other way. Otherwise why else would grade 0 or 1 filters be yellow?

sanking
18-Apr-2008, 10:13
It seems counterintuitive that a yellow filter would decrease contrast. After all, it's what I use to increase contrast with film. But I guess paper's spectral response is different enough from pan film to make it work the other way. Otherwise why else would grade 0 or 1 filters be yellow?


VC papers have two types of sensitiivity in the emulsion -- low contrast green and high contrast blue. The yellow filters blocks high contrast blue light, thus lowering contrast.


Sandy

jetcode
18-Apr-2008, 10:31
It seems counterintuitive that a yellow filter would decrease contrast. After all, it's what I use to increase contrast with film. But I guess paper's spectral response is different enough from pan film to make it work the other way. Otherwise why else would grade 0 or 1 filters be yellow?

photo paper is blue sensitive which is why a red or orange safe light can be used when printing in a darkroom, can't do that with film

xmishx
18-Apr-2008, 16:24
WOW, Really beautiful work, Jim! One to certainly be proud of!!!

Ted

Murray
18-Apr-2008, 17:17
GRADED paper is blue-only-sensitive, peaks around 425 nm for the two graphs I saw.

Jim Fitzgerald
18-Apr-2008, 21:30
Thanks for the insight on the paper neg issue. I just got home from a very long day at work. I'll have to try for tomorrow for the paper neg test. I have to work tomorrow also. I know, boo hoo hoo!
Ted, thanks I love this camera already. I did get a chance to weight it today and it comes in at 16 lbs. I was shooting for 12-14 lbs. Guess I need to start over!!

Jim

Gustavo
23-May-2008, 20:00
I finish will post photos in the morning

Jim Fitzgerald
23-May-2008, 21:00
Gustavo, can't wait to see it!

Jim

LFstudent
23-May-2008, 21:14
Jim - looking forward to seeig images from this camera. Craig

LFstudent
23-May-2008, 21:19
Jim - make some images. Should silence the peanut gallery. Later Craig Roberts

Gustavo
24-May-2008, 09:49
O.K. here are 3 photos of the camera some minor tweaking is needed but is done

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3139/2518204815_64d1961c05_m.jpg http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3131/2519026264_ddf2313887_m.jpg http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3014/2519026384_a27887ebe4_m.jpg

Jim Galli
24-May-2008, 10:00
Bravo Gustavo!! Well done man. That looks really sweet!

Kuzano
24-May-2008, 10:03
Is that thing really as wide as your ceiling fan?

Nice job...Have not seen the whole thread yet... did you post images taken with this beauty, or are they to big to upload to the server?

Gustavo
24-May-2008, 10:12
I just finish it I will test it latter today

Jim Fitzgerald
24-May-2008, 17:21
Gustavo, the back came out nice. I see the temporary clips for the back. They are easy to make. Let me know if you want me to show you how. Once I get my tripod rebuilt and fine tune my 11x14 We need to shoot together.

Jim

Jim Fitzgerald
24-May-2008, 17:53
Craig, here is a crop from my first 11x14. Printed on 1980 Azo 11x14 souped in 130. Scan sucks but the print is very nice. The combo of the old Azo and the 130 gives a very nice warm print. I'm going to brew some Amidol this weekend and print some more 11x14's and some 8x20's from Yosemite. Still trying to figure out how to post the 8x20's. Shot a couple with the digital camera but they don't look very good. I'll have to try something else.

Jim

seawolf66
26-May-2008, 19:39
I dry sand everything to 220. Then I used Watco Danish oil and let it sit for a day. Then I wet sand with diamond hand pads from 200, 400, 600, 800 with the Walnut oil to get a hand rubbed finish. I then put on a coat of Watco Walnut Satin Wax and hand rub in three coats of paste wax. It is well worth the effort. Yes it will scratch and show some wear marks but that is the beauty of it.

What liquid do you use to clean wipe it with between sanding the wood:, my self I used too just wet sand between coats of varnish or shellac or poly never got into laquer: and this was depending on the wood piece :

Very nice camera there you built: Lauren

Turner Reich
26-May-2008, 23:32
Gustavo, do you have an extension for the camera? It looks like you used an 8x10 2D and made a new back.

It's a very handsome camera, you did a remarkable job making the camera, it looks great.

Jim's camera is very special, starting from raw wood and creating a working ULF camera is no easy task.

Hat's off to both of you.

Gustavo
27-May-2008, 08:05
I made one from a part I had around here.
on mine the rails are all tah is left from the 2D

Jim Fitzgerald
27-May-2008, 08:13
Lauren, I usually would wipe down with the excess oil that is left from sanding. If you let the first coat of oil penetrate long enough the wood is loaded with oil. I would apply oil for about an hour and let it soak in and re-apply to the areas that needed more. Then wipe down and let it sit for a few days. Then I would sand to the finish with my diamond pads. French Polishing? Hell, I don't know1 Sure gave a nice finish.

Andrew, thanks. I'm making some fine tuning adjustments. Need to strengthen some areas.

Jim

seawolf66
28-May-2008, 14:39
Ah Now that is the cats meow [ French Polishing ] and its a labor of love when you do anything by french polishing: Jim I will say this It looks great just as is: Lauren

Jim Fitzgerald
28-May-2008, 19:27
Lauren, thanks. Some think I'm crazy but that is OK! I think we are all a little crazy! It helps, doesn't it?


Jim

Gustavo
28-May-2008, 19:28
Shot my first 11 X sheets will see how I did :)

Jim Fitzgerald
28-May-2008, 22:49
Shot my first 11 X sheets will see how I did :)

Gustavo, can't wait to see it.

Jim

seawolf66
29-May-2008, 06:29
[Lauren, thanks. Some think I'm crazy but that is OK! I think we are all a little crazy! It helps, doesn't it?] Jim, I got certified (nuts) a long time ago : [VBG] enjoy and you have earned it:

LFstudent
29-May-2008, 22:15
Jim - keep going. The peanut gallery will always second-guess the work. My mentor used to say – “getting there is all of the fun”. After 30-years, I’m beginning to understand what he meant. I’m enjoying the creative process more than ever before. Craig

Jim Fitzgerald
1-Jun-2008, 10:03
Craig if I would have stopped when several people said " no way can you do that" I would have given up long ago. No 8x20 or 11x14 would have been built. If I have an idea or a vision I'm going to do it no matter what anyone tells me otherwise. It is part of the learning process. An example is the Voigtlander Hybrid 16" lens that I put together from the back element only. I put a +1 diopter up front and now I have a great soft focus lens for the 11x14! It is not bad stopped down to 64 with the home made waterhouse stops either.

Jim

Gustavo
1-Jun-2008, 10:05
Hi Guys I will post my first 11 X by Tuesday I hope :)

Jim Fitzgerald
1-Jun-2008, 20:57
Gustavo, I hope the holder worked ok?

Jim

Gustavo
1-Jun-2008, 21:32
yes not a problem Jim , Thanks

Gustavo
9-Jun-2008, 19:01
I wanted to share what I started with so I whent a looking !
the images are of the Black Stallion as it came from Jim Galli

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3033/2565707393_77c8a74c07.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3085/2566531198_9cc907c8af.jpg

Jim Galli
9-Jun-2008, 19:34
I wanted to share what I started with so I whent a looking !
the images are of the Black Stallion as it came from Jim Galli

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3033/2565707393_77c8a74c07.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3085/2566531198_9cc907c8af.jpg


Isn't that the one I described as "minty" ??

Jim Fitzgerald
9-Jun-2008, 20:37
Gustavo, nice to see what can come out of a little hard work. My 2-D was not that bad! I turned mine into the 8x20! Great to see what a little imagination and hard work can do. Nice going.
"Minty" that cracked me up! Nice one, Jim.

Jim

Turner Reich
9-Jun-2008, 20:54
Does Jim have a big dirt pit in his yard where he gets all of this stuff from. Pe Yu, it was garbage in the beginning and came out like a dove. Fantastic job Gustavo, I'll give it to you for going with something that hard. Minty, maybe feena mint !
Now it's certainly Mint.